


If I Get My Way

by uswntinharmony



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Dewis - Freeform, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Hesitation, Houston Dash, Slow Build, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-08-24
Packaged: 2019-06-05 01:47:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15159740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uswntinharmony/pseuds/uswntinharmony
Summary: Rachel's never been good at controlling her emotions, and she soon discovers it's especially hard to deal with jealousy. Inspired by Little Mix's "If I Get My Way," which I'd highly recommend giving a listen.





	1. Rachel

Rachel thought she knew what her new teammate was going to be like. She had seen her play enough times to know her strategies. She knew what kind of people she hung out with, and they were not people like herself, not that she wanted to become friends with her anyway. She also knew that she had a reputation for being a bitch.

And so when Omar had asked her to go with Amber and Sarah to pick up Kristie Mewis from the airport, she was less than enthusiastic.

“Why me?”

“Because you’re a leader on this team.”

“Why not get Kealia to do it? She’s better at this stuff than me.”

“All the more reason you should go. It’s good practice.”

“Fine.”

So there she was, arms crossed in the backseat begrudgingly listening to Amber and Sarah sing along to Taylor Swift on the radio. She tried to tell them to stop, that her ears were bleeding, but they just yelled at her for being a “grumpy grump” and turned back to Taylor. Rachel was miserable, to say the least. Reaching the airport didn’t make her feel any better. Sure, there was no Taylor Swift, but there was a Kristie Mewis, which was arguably worse.

Rachel stood a fair distance behind Amber and Sarah as they waited by baggage claim for Kristie. Sarah looked back at her, puzzled.

“What’s your deal?”

“Just tired, I guess,” Rachel shrugged.

“You’ve been in a bad mood all day,” Amber chimed in. “This isn’t about Kristie, is it?”

Rachel shrugged again.

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Kristie’s like the sweetest person on Earth. No need to be anxious.”

“I’m not anxious.”

“Well whatever you’re dealing with, you better get over it real soon,” Amber waved to a girl in the distance. “She’s coming over here now.”

Rachel sighed, preparing herself for the worst. As her new teammate approached, Rachel felt her heart stop. This was not good. She had seen pictures of Kristie, sure, but they did not do her justice. She was drop dead gorgeous, and she hated her for it.

“Kristie!” Amber and Sarah cried in unison, throwing their arms around the girl.

“Hey, guys,” Kristie laughed, enjoying their embrace.

Rachel stood aside awkwardly, rocking back and forth on her feet. She didn’t like Kristie Mewis. She knew she didn’t. No matter how pretty she might be, she did not like Kristie Mewis.

As she pulled away from the others, Kristie looked at Rachel quizzically. “Rachel Daly, right?” Rachel nodded silently. Kristie walked over to her with a smile and stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Kristie.”

Rachel simply stared at the hand, not reciprocating the action. “I know who you are.”

Sarah and Amber gave her a pointed look that she ignored. Kristie dropped her hand, smile faltering. She turned back to the other two girls.

“I’m going to grab my bags. I’ll back back in a flash.”

“I’ll go with you,” Amber volunteered, and the pair walked off.

Sarah turned on Rachel. “What was that?”

Rachel shrugged in what seemed to be a recurring theme that day.

“You should at least give her a chance. She’s been through a lot with all of these trades. The poor girl just wants to settle down with a team, and it’s not going to work for her here if you don’t at least try to get along.”

“Have you ever wondered why these teams are letting her go so easily?” Rachel asked bluntly.

“It’s not exactly something you go around asking,” Sarah responded coldly.

“All I’m saying is that maybe there’s something about her that makes people want to get rid of her.”

“You can be such an assshole sometimes, Daly. You know that?”

“What’s going on here? Everything okay?” Amber interrupted them, Kristie holding her luggage timidly behind her.

“Just peachy!” Rachel plastered on a fake smile. 

Amber exchanged a look with Sarah, who shook her head. “Well, we should going. Kristie, you’re staying with Sarah and me, right?”

“If that’s okay.” 

“Of course it’s okay!” Sarah grinned. “We’ve just gotta drop Rachel off at her place first, and then we can get you settled in.”

The car ride back was even worse than before. You could cut the tension with a knife. Taylor Swift still played quietly from the front seats, but Kristie seemed to be just as much of a fan as Rachel. At least she had that going for her. Rachel knew Sarah and Amber put Kristie in the back next to Rachel in hopes that they would interact like proper individuals, but Rachel wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction. She gazed out of the window at passing cars, choosing to ignore the other girl’s presence. After their introduction at the airport, it looked like Kristie had taken Rachel’s hint.

Rachel tried not to let Sarah’s words get to her. She still didn’t trust the girl, no matter how much her teammates tried to guilt trip her. Her appearance might have distracted Rachel for a moment, but it didn’t change the way she felt. Kristie Mewis was bad news, that was for sure.

Eventually Amber tried to start up a conversation, obviously uncomfortable with the current situation. “So, Kristie, how’s the family?”

“Hm?” Rachel looked over to find Kristie quickly averting her gaze from Rachel herself. How interesting. 

“Your family?” Amber repeated.

“Oh,” Kristie paused. “They’re fine. They were obviously concerned about me coming here, but they can’t really control that any more than I can. Sam’s been especially upset.”

“Makes sense,” Sarah hummed. ‘She’d know more than anybody how hard this is.”

“Yeah,” Kristie looked down.

“And Brandon? You guys are still together, right?” Amber asked.

This got Rachel’s attention.

Kristie nodded. “He’s been oddly understanding about this whole situation. I didn’t think he’d want to do long distance, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Never underestimate guys. They can be surprisingly great sometimes.”

Rachel snorted at that, prompting Sarah and Amber to roll their eyes and for Kristie to look at her curiously.

“Rachel’s gay,” Sarah explained. “And painfully distrusting of men.”

“It’s not that I distrust them,” Rachel finally spoke up. “There’s just nothing appealing about them romantically. No one understands girls more than other girls.”

“I can understand that,” Kristie agreed.

Rachel raised an eyebrow.

“Not that I’m gay or anything. I’m not, I swear. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course,” she stumbled over her words.

“I forgot how much of a rambler you are, Mewis,” Amber joked, inciting Rachel to turn back to the window and fall silent once more.

At that point, the conversation became dull and Rachel began to tune it out. Thankfully, as soon as Rachel thought she might fall asleep from the mundane voices, the car rolled to a stop in front of her apartment building. She quickly scrambled out of the vehicle, thankful to finally leave to awkward atmosphere.

“Thanks for driving, Amber,” she said, not forgetting to be polite to her teammates.

“No problem. Thanks for coming us.”

“It wasn’t exactly my choice.”

“Still. See you tomorrow,” Amber and Sarah waved to her as they pulled out. Kristie didn’t say anything at all, just looked down.

Rachel had survived day one of Kristie Mewis, and so far it was just as bad as she expected. The rest of the season was looking truly agonizing.


	2. Kristie

Kristie stared at the ceiling, darkness filling the room. She had tried to sleep, but only ended up tossing and turning around on the couch Amber and Sarah had temporarily fixed up for her. They were being nice, at least. She had no idea why Rachel Daly, whom she just met, hated her. As far as she knew, they had never interacted with each other before, but maybe she had forgotten something. It wouldn’t be the first time.

She had tried asking Sarah about it, knowing she had talked with Rachel when she went to get her bags, but didn’t find out much.

“Rachel? Oh, don’t worry about her. She can be weird sometimes, but she’ll warm up to you.”

Kristie seriously doubted that. She didn’t expect Rachel to be too warm to her when she first arrived. After all, she was a stranger. She definitely had hoped she would be a tad more welcoming, though.

The worst part was, however, that Kristie couldn’t bring herself to be mad, or even that upset. She wanted to be. She wanted to hate Rachel as much as she seemed to hate her. Yet, all she really felt was the desire to be her friend. Not even friend, really. She just wanted Rachel to like her, even if it was just a little bit.

Kristie rolled over and checked her phone for what seemed like the thousandth time that night. She had texted her boyfriend an hour earlier, asking if he could FaceTime, but he never replied. Kristie told herself that he must be tired from a hard day of work and had fallen asleep before he got her message. Plus, he was an hour ahead of her. It was completely plausible. She had only hoped to hear his voice, thinking it would maybe calm her down and ease her thoughts, but it could wait until tomorrow. She was used to settling when it came to Brandon anyway, not that she would ever admit it.

Kristie picked up her laptop from off the floor and flipped it open. If she couldn’t sleep, she could at least strategize for tomorrow’s practice. She opened Youtube and typed “houston dash highlights” into the search bar, proceeding to watch as many clips as she could before finally drifting off to sleep. The last thing she sees before closing her eyes is Rachel Daly, smiling widely and celebrating one hell of a goal.

\---

“Kristie!” 

Kristie groaned and rolled over.

“Kristie, wake up!”

She pulled the blanket over her head, trying her best to block out whoever was disrupting her. Suddenly, the warmth of her covers disappeared.

“Hey!” she exclaimed groggily. “It’s not nice to steal.”

“You have to start getting ready for practice. We’re late enough as is,” Kristie opened her eyes to find Amber tapping her foot impatiently.

“What happened to your alarm?” Kristie asked, looking over at the clock that read 11:30.

“Sarah forgot to turn it on.”

“Hey now, let’s not play the blame game here,” they heard Sarah from the other room.

“In any case, we need to hurry. Brush your teeth, get dressed, and slap together a sandwich. We’re leaving in twenty.”

Kristie hastily got up and made her way to the bathroom, going through her normal routine at ten times the speed. She slipped on some casual athletic clothes, figuring she’d receive the official practice uniform at some point that day. She stuffed her gym bag with shower supplies, an outfit for later, protein bar, and water bottle before rushing to the kitchen. She constructed a simple turkey, cheese, and tomato sandwich, then reconvenied with the other two girls by the door. She checked her watch. 11:48, just in the nick of time.

Amber nodded approvingly. “Way to be, K. I didn’t think you had it in ya.”

“Never underestimate a Mewis,” Kristie responded simply. “Now, are we gonna get going or what?”

“Yes, yes,” Sarah led the way down the hall and down to the parking garage, where the three piled into Amber’s car with the same seating arrangements as yesterday.

“So, Kristie,” Amber started as the pulled onto the road. “Are you nervous?”

“Even more so now that we’re gonna be late.”

“Don’t worry, Mewis. We’ll cover for you,” Sarah reassured.

“Yeah, we’ll blame it all on Sarah,” Amber joked.

“Hey!” Sarah crossed her arms.

“It’s true,” Amber shrugged. “Back me up on this, K.”

Kristie raised her arms in surrender. “I’m staying out of this.”

“Fine,” Amber huffed.

Sarah turned around to face Kristie. “Don’t worry about practice, though. It’s your first day, no one expects you to be perfect.”

“Yeah,” Kristie muttered. “It’d be nice, though.”

“Well, we all wish we were perfect all the time,” Amber chimed in. “Seriously, don’t sweat it. We’ll take care of you.”

Kristie smiled weakly before turning to the window, finding solace in the tall buildings that blurred by. What her teammates couldn’t know is that she was really just anxious about the girl who had practically ignored her the day before. Sure she wanted the coaches to approve of her. After all, she was sick of moving around the country to new teams. But she knew the way Rachel acted today would make or break her first day with the team.

Once they reached the field, Kristie’s nerves instantly grew. She wrung her hands together when she got out of the car and saw the rest of the team in the middle of warmups. They were really late. Too late.

Omar, whom Kristie recognized as Houston’s temporary head coach, frowned as the trio stepped onto the pitch. “You three are awfully late.”

“It was Sarah’s fault,” Amber immediately pointed at her friend, to which Omar raised an eyebrow.

“I would beg to differ,” Sarah butted in. “In fact, it was your alarm that didn’t go off.”

“Which you forgot to set.”

Omar raised a hand. “Enough, girls. Go ahead and run around the field until your teammates finish warmups,” he glanced at Kristie, finally acknowledging her. “You too, Mewis. There’s no pity for newbies around here.”

Kristie nodded silently and began her course, Amber and Sarah continuing to bicker beside her. She tried as best she could to focus on the task at hand, but found that her eyes insisted on following her new teammates, analyzing their every move. She was particularly drawn to who else but Rachel Daly. She was participating in a simple passing drill with two other girls that entailed receiving a ball from one and passing it back before quickly turning to the other girl and doing the same. Kristie used to do that all the time with Sam and Steph back home; she knew what it was supposed to look like, and Rachel was amazing at it. Her taps were crisp and direct, and she turned without skipping a beat. Kristie hated the fact that she was so good

After what seemed like an eternity, the team gathered around Omar, prompting Kristie, Sarah, and Amber to do the same.

“Good passing, girls. Remember to look at the recipient of the ball, not at your feet. Passing is no good if you don’t know where your target is. Rachel did a great job of that today,” Omar gestured to her.

The girl smirked proudly. Kristie rolled her eyes.

“Now’s a good a time as any to introduce you all to your new teammate,” he beckoned Kristie forward, who shuffled her way to the coach. “I’m sure you all are aware of who Kristie Mewis is. Fantastic midfielder. I’m so glad to have a talented player like you with us in Houston.”

“If by talented you mean good at being late, you’ve got that right,” a voice piped up from the group, earning a wave of uncomfortable snickers. Kristie didn’t have to look up to know the source of the comment.

Instead, she plastered on a fake smile. “Thanks for the introduction, Coach. I’m looking forward to playing with everyone.”

Omar clapped her on the shoulder. “And we’re happy to have you here, despite what others may say,” he looked pointedly at Rachel. “Now divide yourself by general position. We’re gonna do some specialty drills.” 

The rest of practice went by relatively quickly in Kristie’s opinion, and by the end of it, she was feeling a lot more relaxed. She clicked perfectly with the rest of the midfielders. Of course, Amber was there to help integrate her, but she thought that she could’ve done it by herself and it would have gone just as smoothly. They reassured her that Rachel was just having a bad day and that they were genuinely excited to see what Kristie would bring to the team. In fact, as practice wrapped up, they offered to buy her a drink to commemorate her first day as a Dash member.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun!” Caity encouraged. “I promise we’re not lame.”

“I don’t know,” Kristie hummed as they walked toward the locker room. 

Amber put an arm around Kristie. “Listen, K. Would you rather sit by yourself at my home, mind you, or hang with your totally awesome teammates?”

“I guess I’ll go,” Kristie relented. “Plus, I have a feeling I’m gonna have to be responsible for you anyway.”

Amber took the arm around Kristie and crossed it over her chest. “I’m hurt! How could you think so low of me?”

Kristie shrugged. “It wouldn’t be out of character.”

“Well now I have to be completely sober tonight, thanks to you.”

“I’m not stopping you from drinking, you know. I’m just teasing.”

“I’m doing it out of spite.” 

Kristie rolled her eyes. “Typical Amber.”

Amber narrowed her eyes. “I’m gonna question you more on that later, but for now, someone’s waiting for you,” she pointed to their assistant coach, Blair, who was waving Kristie over enthusiastically.

Kristie sighed. “I’ll catch up with you guys in a bit,” she waved and strode off.

“Hey, Kristie, nice practice!” Blair greeted as she approached.

“Thanks,” Kristie grinned. “I’m liking the team so far.”

“And I’m sure even the toughest will wear down eventually,” Blair winked. Kristie opened her mouth to respond, but wasn’t given a chance. “Anyway, I’m just here to give you your practice wear,” she handed Kristie a bundle of white and orange fabrics.

“Thank you,” Kristie took the clothes gratefully.

“Of course! Can’t have our newest star looking like a fish out of water, can we?”

Kristie laughed nervously. “That wouldn’t be good.”

“Well, I won’t keep you. Have fun tonight, and stay safe!” Blair smiled and turned back to the group of staff members huddled by the equipment.

Kristie nodded politely and began the trek back to the locker room. She thought most of her nerves had melted away after practice ended, but they were quickly returning. It seemed like everyone expected her to be something she wasn’t. She wasn’t a superstar. There was a reason she hadn’t played for the national team in four years. There was a reason every club team got rid of her. She just wasn’t good enough, but for some reason, Houston sure thought she was. She didn’t trust them one bit.

“Penny for your thoughts?” 

Kristie looked up, startled, only to find none other than Rachel Daly leaning against the entrance to the locker room. Her surprised eyes instantly dulled at the sight.

“I thought you weren’t talking to me.”

Rachel shrugged. 

“Why do you hate me so much? What have I ever done to you?” Kristie began to get frustrated with this girl.

Rachel smirked. “Do you really not remember?”

Kristie furrowed her brows. “Remember what?”

Rachel shook her head, chuckling. “You’re even dumber than I thought, Mewis.”

“If you’re not going to tell me, can I at least get changed? Some of us have plans that don’t revolve around you,” Kristie roughly brushed by the girl.

“You know, they invited me to that thing, too,” she said, causing Kristie to pause for a moment. 

“And are you going?”

“With you there?” she scoffed. “I’d rather not spend any more time in your presence than I have to.”

“Then why are you still talking to me?” Kristie snapped.

“Good point,” Rachel pushed herself off the wall and turned her back to Kristie. “I’ll see ya around, Mewis,” she waved lazily without looking back.

“Good riddance,” Kristie muttered, finally entering the locker room after an unfortunate series of delays.

\---

Kristie was surprised. Amber really did keep to her word. After a night of good food and drinks with most of her teammates, Amber was one of the only girls still sober, Kristie not among them. She wasn’t drunk or anything as far as she could tell, just tipsy. Just a tad tipsy.

So when Amber finally got her back to the apartment in one piece (Kristie was quite a handful when intoxicated), she completely collapsed on her makeshift bed, half laughing, half crying (Kristie was also quite emotional when intoxicated). She pulled out her phone and messed around until she heard the familiar ring of Skype.

“Kristie!” Amber groaned from the next room over. “Please tell me you’re not trying to video chat someone right now.”

Kristie giggled. “I’m not trying to video chat someone right now.”

“It’s your funeral,” Amber called back.

A face suddenly illuminated Kristie’s phone and she instantly perked up. “Brandon! I missed you!”

Brandon rubbed his eyes groggily. “Babe, what are you doing? It’s three in the morning.”

“Well it’s two in the morning here, so who’s winning?”

He blinked rapidly. “Kristie, are you drunk?”

Kristie snorted. “If you think I’m drunk, that must mean you’re the one who’s drunk.”

Brandon rubbed his eyes, exasperated. “Babe, we’ve talked about this.”

Kristie frowned. “I wanted to have fun with my new friends.”

“Yes, Baby, I know, but you can’t be drinking like this.”

“But why not?” Kristie pouted.

“Because you have no control over yourself, you know that. I can’t trust you if you’re drunk.”

“I promise I’m careful. Amber’s been taking care of me.”

Brandon’s eyes narrowed. “Amber?”

“She’s one of my friends. Am I not allowed to have friends now?” Kristie’s light tone turned to one more accusatory.

“No, Babe, you are! But I have no way of knowing if you’re being loyal to me, you know? It’s only natural for me to be suspicious of people.”

Kristie nodded. “It’s only natural.”

“It is, Baby,” Brandon smiled. “Now, I don’t want you drinking anymore, okay? It’s hard enough already to trust you without alcohol in your system.”

“Okay.”

“Now get some rest, it’s late. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Goodnight, Babe.”

“Goodnight.”


	3. Rachel

Rachel was terribly frustrated. It seemed like she was the only one who was suspicious of the newest Dash member. Sure, she had been nice enough the day before, but Rachel knew it was all a front. Beneath that seemingly sunny exterior was something that could only be described as an elitist complex. Rachel knew that from experience. The worst part was that Kristie couldn’t even be bothered the remember the hurt she caused Rachel. Thus, she couldn’t possibly forgive the girl for what she’s done.

A couple days after the team’s first practice with Kristie, Rachel went to the fields by herself. Just because they had the day off didn’t mean she was going to stop working. Kristie couldn’t surpass her in skill. Not that she was terribly concerned, really, but it couldn’t hurt to get the extra hours in.

After setting up some cones for her usual drills, she had a brief thought of calling a couple of her teammates to practice with her. “No,” she thought. “They’d only slow me down. Plus, they’re probably kissing up to Kristie.” Rachel hated that everyone loved Kristie. Hanging out with her is all anybody’s wanted to do since her arrival. She wasn’t that special.

As Rachel’s practice session progressed, the more angry she became. What did Kristie have that she didn’t? Why couldn’t her teammates see how terrible she was? Was it possible that Kristie could replace her? A muffled cough interrupted her thoughts.

She stopped in her tracks to find a concerned looking Kristie Mewis staring at her. “Speak of the devil,” she muttered under her breath.

“This field didn’t know what was coming,” the girl commented, gesturing toward the torn up grass and overturned cones.

Rachel glanced at her coldly. “What are you doing here?”

“I was going to get in some extra practice so I could maybe fit in more with you guys, but you beat me to it.”

Rachel shrugged. “Can’t let anyone take my spot as the star of this team.”

Kristie snorted. “Is that what you think you are?”

“It’s not like you would know. You wouldn’t recognize talent if it came up and slapped you in the face.”

“You may think I’m dumb or talentless or a bitch, but at least I’m not a selfish asshole like you.”

“You know, I wouldn’t hate you so much if you would just apologize,” Rachel gathered up her things and stuffed them into her duffel.

Kristie laughed emotionlessly. “I don’t even know what I would be apologizing for!”

“Of course not. How would you? I’m obviously not of any importance.”

“Listen, Rachel. I don’t know what I’ve done to you, and it doesn’t look like you’ll be telling me anytime soon. I’m sorry for what I did wrong, but I genuinely don’t remember. I have a terrible memory and I’ve been through a lot recently.”

“Sounds like a bunch of bullshit excuses to me,” Rachel scoffed.

Kristie sighed. “If we’re gonna be on the same team, we should learn to at least tolerate each other. This team depends on it. Without chemistry, we’re never going to win.”

“We’ve won without you before. You’re unnecessary.”

Hurt flashed over Kristie’s eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it came. “Yeah, I’ve heard that one before.”

Rachel felt bad for a moment, but recovered relatively quickly. She shouldn’t feel sorry for the girl. She brought this upon herself. “The field’s yours,” she said instead, lifting her duffel onto her shoulder and then began to walk off.

“Wait!” Kristie called out. Rachel found herself pausing despite herself. “Whenever you feel like telling me what I’ve done to you, let me know. I’d like to make it up to you if I can.”

For half a second, Rachel considered the girl’s proposition. Maybe she should let go of the year long grudge. Maybe it wasn’t worth it. Rachel quickly shook that idea out of her head. Nothing could make up for what Kristie had done.

“It’s too late for that,” she responded cooly before leaving Kristie alone to process her words.

Rachel strode over to her car, slamming the door shut behind her. She sighed heavily, slamming her head against the steering wheel. The more she was around that girl, the more confused she became. Was she really a selfish asshole? She didn’t think she was. She was only protecting herself, but she supposed Kristie wouldn’t understand that.

She called Brooke, knowing her friend would almost always pick up. As the dial tone played, she started her car and began her drive home.

“Hey, Daly, what’s up?” she heard the familiar voice greet cheerfully.

“I have a problem, Elby.”

“Oh, God, okay. Lay it on me.”

“Well, you know how that Mewis girl joined the team?”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t shut up about it.”

“Can you blame me?” Rachel exclaimed.

“Not really,” Brooke conceded.

“Anyway, I hate her,” Rachel put simply.

“And this is a problem because?” Brooke trailed off.

Rachel sighed. “It’s complicated.”

“Rach, if you’re not gonna tell me anything, how do you expect me to help?”

“Fine. She just makes me confused, I guess.”

“About?”

“You don’t think I’m a selfish asshole, do you?”

“Selfish, no. Asshole, sometimes.”

“Brooke!” Rachel whined. “Be serious!”

“Listen, Rach,” she paused. “Sure you can be annoying sometimes, but who isn’t? You’ve been with me through thick and thin, and I couldn’t ask for a better friend. I’ve never considered you to be selfish. You’ve sacrificed a lot to get where you are, remember that.”

“Yeah,” Rachel agreed quietly. “But she doesn’t seem to get that.”

“Have you tried, you know, talking to her about that?”

“I can’t talk to her!”

“Why not?”

“Don’t you remember what she did to me?”

“Of course I remember, but that was at least a year ago. Can’t you let bygones be bygones?”

“Not until she apologizes,” Rachel huffed.

“Did you even bother to ask for one?”

“I told her today that I’d hate her less if she did.”

Rachel could practically see Brooke roll her eyes. “Real nice, Rachel. How’d that go?”

“She said she didn’t know what she should be apologizing for,” Rachel admitted.

“See!” Brooke proclaimed. “That’s your problem, Rachel. You’re a terrible communicator.”

“Thanks,” Rachel grumbled.

“Just talk to her for God’s sake.”

“Maybe.”

“You know I’m just gonna pester you every day if you don’t,” she threatened.

“Yeah, I know,” Rachel groaned. “And I hate you for it.”

“Do you hate me as much as Kristie Mewis?”

“Shut up.”

“Oh, you know I love you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rachel pulled into her building’s parking garage. “I just got home, Elby, I’ve gotta go.”

“Promise me you’ll talk to her?”

“Maybe.”

“I’ll take it,” Brooke said triumphantly.

“Bye, Brookie.”

“See ya, Rachie.”

Rachel let out a deep breath upon hanging up. She grabbed her duffel and made the trek upstairs to her apartment (she tried not to take the elevator unless she had to). What was she going to do? She couldn’t possibly talk to Kristie, not after how she’d been treating the girl. Why would she want to listen to her? Rachel knew that if she was in Kristie’s place, she wouldn’t want to hear a word.

And yet, as soon as Rachel stepped into her room, she felt a strong urge to call the girl she had been trying so hard to avoid.


End file.
